The Promise and The Search are NOT Canon
by Phabel
Summary: The Promise and The Search are both graphic novels that directly follow the end of the series. They're supposed to be canonical, but I disagree.


_The Promise_ and _The Search part _are both graphic novel trilogies that were written a sequel to AtLA. _The Search_ is actually the sequel to _The Promise_, which basically picks up right where the series left off. I'll be giving away a lot of the plot of both of these novels in this "fic" (I'll admit it's more of an educated rant then a fic), so if you haven't read them, either do so or read on at your own risk.

Let's start with _The Promise_. I liked that one better then _The Search part 1_ because the socio-political problems that give way seemed realistic. There were several holes in the plot, however, that lead me to think of this as non-canon.

**Boomerang's back?** Didn't Sokka lose boomerang in the last episode? We know Gene Yang at least watched the last thirty seconds of the arguably most important episode in the series (_The Promise_ starts with Katara and Aang's kiss on the balcony in Ba Sing Se), but the fact that boomerang makes a reappearance (and other obvious plot flaws that I will point out) begs the question: How much of the show did he actually watch?

**What's with Suzuki?** I've been calling the ship Zuko/Suki Suzuki because, apparently, so few people actually ship it that it doesn't even have an acknowledged shipping name. What I want to know is where Gene Yang came up with this, because he clearly didn't get it from anything canonical. Suki and Zuko's relationship was platonic at best. She even seemed to still resent him burning her village to the ground when her, Sokka, and Zuko are trying to escape the Boiling Rock.

**Are the Lily Livers even earthbenders?** If so, why don't we ever see them earthbend? They can't have just learned metalbending, the most complicated and advanced form of earthbending, without even learning how to earthbend first, right? If they are earthbenders, why don't they earthbend when they're in the match against the kids from the fire nation school? It can also be argued that Toph needed a clean slate - people who didn't already know the Hung Gar version of earthbending - so that she could "build from the ground up," so to speak. If that were the case, why is she skipping straight to metalbending without first teaching them earthbending? It just doesn't make sense.

That pretty much sums up my beef with _The Promise. _I'd have more complaints, but the realistic plotline really saved this from my bashing it. _The Search_, however, is not as lucky. The plot seemed to fall flat, though that is just my own personal opinion. There's more Suzuki and they don't make an attempt to correct the miraculous reappearance of boomerang. They also add to the list of flaws.

**Politically and socially speaking, under no circumstance does a royal marry a commoner.** Besides all that ridiculousness with William and Kate, that has never happened. Despite common knowledge, political power was never _only_ inherited. A noble had to learn the ins and outs of politics and warfare from their father. The same goes for becoming fire lady. No matter how much it would "guarantee a strong bloodline," no monarch would arrange for his heir to marry an uneducated non-noble. It just doesn't happen.

Speaking of heirs: if Azulon wanted to guarantee the royal family a "strong bloodline," wouldn't he force Ursa to marry Iroh? Iroh was heir to the throne, so why would he bother strengthening a bloodline that wasn't destined to be royal in the first place?

**Is it vulture wasps or moth wasps?** This one doesn't matter as much, but it still irks me. In the episode "The Desert," we see creatures called vulture wasps. Are there moth wasps too, or is this another mix up on Gene Yang's part?

**Zuko's illegitimacy is a travesty.** Number one, Zuko looks exactly like his father. If it wasn't for his scar and Ozai's beard, it would be pretty hard to tell the difference between the two of them. Number two, Zuko being descended from both Sozin and Roku was arguably the most important part of his development. It showed him that he had both good and evil within him, and _he_ had the power to choose between the two (I believe that that was almost a direct quote from Iroh). If that's not true, then a huge part of his character is based entirely on lies.

**It wasn't even written by Brian Konietzko and Michael DiMartino! **Isn't canon supposed to be made by the people who actually made the show? The graphic novel says that Mike and Bryan were "consulted," but that's code for "they asked if they could call it _Nickelodeon's Avatar: the Last Airbender_." There's no way, with this many plot errors, Gene Yang actually worked side by side with the show's creators.

So, that is my argument for why _The Promise _and _The Search_ are not canon. If you disagree with one or many points, feel free to post a review, though you'll probably be getting a PM in reply blowing your theory out of the water. As of writing this, only part one of _The Search_ has come out, so I'll add new chapters for parts two and three. I don't own AtLA, _The Promise, _or _The Search_.


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